1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of pumping mechanisms. More specifically the present invention relates to a pumping apparatus for drawing water from a low lying holding area and delivering the water upwardly and over the bank of the holding area to any designated receiving area or means. The apparatus includes an apparatus base such as a trailer bed and including a water drawing pipe having a pipe intake end and having a pipe discharge end containing an impeller drivably connected to a hydraulic motor which receives pressurized hydraulic fluid through a flexible hydraulic supply hose extending along the drawing pipe from the output side of a hydraulic pump and the hydraulic motor releasing hydraulic fluid into a flexible return hose extending along the drawing pipe to the intake side of the hydraulic pump, a deployment and angling cable means which moves the drawing pipe between a retracted position on the apparatus base and a deployed position extending outwardly and angling downwardly from the apparatus base into the water in the given holding area, and a segmented hose track which forms a continuous bend radius great enough to prevent the hose from kinking or collapsing when the drawing pipe and hose are retracted and which permits the hose to unroll and extend with the drawing pipe as the drawing pipe is deployed, and once again, to coil back into its pre-set bend radius as the drawing pipe is retracted.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have been water pump assemblies for gathering water from holding areas and delivering the water at a high flow rate to a receiving area. The most notable such pump assembly is U.S. Pat. No. 3,270,677 issued on Sep. 6, 1966 to the present applicant, which functions very effectively, but is limited as to the depth of water it can reach in a holding area.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a water pumping apparatus which can reach and gather water in a deep holding area through an extendable water drawing pipe having a distally located, intake end containing an impeller powered by a hydraulic motor.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus in which the hydraulic motor is supplied with pressurized hydraulic fluid through a flexible hydraulic supply hose extending from a point proximal to the intake end and is drained of hydraulic fluid through a flexible hydraulic supply hose extending back along the drawing pipe, the hydraulic supply and return hoses being mounted within a segmented hose track which limits the bend radius of the hoses sufficiently to prevent hose kinking and collapse.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus in which the water drawing pipe telescopingly retracts to become shorter to fit compactly onto an apparatus base.
It is finally an object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, maintain and transport, and which is highly reliable.
The present invention accomplishes the above-stated objectives, as well as others, as may be determined by a fair reading and interpretation of the entire specification.
A pumping apparatus is provided for delivering water upwardly from a holding area and over a holding area bank, the apparatus including an apparatus base; a water drawing pipe having a pipe intake end and a pipe discharge end and being mounted to the apparatus base and extendable from the apparatus base; an impeller rotatably mounted within the drawing pipe discharge end; a hydraulic motor drivably connected to the impeller at the drawing pipe intake end; a hydraulic pump having a pump intake side and a pump output side; a flexible hydraulic supply hose connected to the pump output side and extending along the drawing pipe to the hydraulic motor; a flexible hydraulic return hose extending from the hydraulic motor along the drawing pipe to the pump intake side; a segmented hose track having a longitudinal track passageway through which the supply and return hoses extend and having a minimum bend radius great enough to prevent the supply and return hoses from kinking and permitting the hoses to unroll and extend with the drawing pipe as the drawing pipe is deployed and to coil back into the minimum bend radius as the drawing pipe is retracted without kinking or collapse; and a drawing pipe extending mechanism for moving the drawing pipe between a retracted position on the apparatus base and a deployed position extending outwardly and angling downwardly from the apparatus base into water in a given holding area.
The apparatus base preferably includes a flat bed trailer. The segmented hose track preferably includes a series of track segments, each track segment being pivotally interconnected to an immediately adjacent the track segment in the series. Each track segment preferably includes a pair of laterally spaced apart, substantially parallel plates having pivot pins at plate forward and rearward ends connecting the given the track segment to plates forming one of a previous and a subsequent track segment; and having hose retaining interconnection struts extending between the plates, defining the interior passageway through which the supply and return hoses extend.
The drawing pipe preferably includes a wider outer pipe segment having an outer pipe receiving end; and an inner pipe segment having an inner pipe contained end located inside the outer pipe segment, the inner pipe segment being telescopingly mounted within the outer pipe segment; where the drawing pipe extending mechanism moves the inner pipe segment into and out of the outer pipe segment so that at least a portion of the inner pipe is slidably retained within the outer pipe segment. The drawing pipe extending mechanism preferably includes a winch secured relative to the apparatus base; and a cable connection structure secured to the drawing tube intake end. The apparatus may additionally include a collapsible water discharge hose sealingly secured to the water drawing pipe discharge end and extending over the apparatus base.